


Work It Out

by falsteloj



Category: Half Moon Investigations
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, M/M, POV First Person, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 18:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falsteloj/pseuds/falsteloj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas ficlet written a couple of years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Work It Out

It was unfair, I thought, gaze wandering back over to the misshapen bundle of wrapping paper and sellotape Red had given me earlier. You can’t just give an aspiring private detective a mystery then tell him he’s not allowed to solve it. 

My fingers were itching to pick it up and feel for a clue, my mind unable to concentrate on anything else. The worst thing was that there was still almost a week to go until Christmas. I wasn’t sure I could stand another minute, let alone a week.

Finally I got up and shoved it as far under my bed as I could reach. Out of sight; out of mind.

It worked. For almost an hour.  Then the urge came back full force. Driving me to distraction until I was forced to get down on hands and knees and retrieve it from its hiding place. I sat on my bed with the parcel in front of me, trying to figure out how disappointed, on a scale of one to ten, Red would be with me if I just opened it now.

I looked about me - as if Red might be somehow able to see what I was about to do - then tore carefully at the shiny wrapping paper, biting at my lip. What Red never found out wouldn’t hurt him. 

Inside was a standard looking cardboard box. I could leave it closed, I knew, and keep my promise to Red that I wouldn’t unwrap his present. But… I’d already come this far. Decision made, I worked the lid loose and stared down into the empty box. No, not quite empty. There was a slip of paper wedged into one corner. I unfolded it curiously,

_‘I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. Come meet me at the hurling fields.'_

* * *

“Red!” I called as soon as he was in sight. At least I hoped it was him, it was dark and I only had the figure’s general height to go on. 

Luck was on my side.

“Fletcher?” Red asked, teeth chattering in the cold night air. His tone turned accusing, “What took you so long?”

“You,” I protested, wrapping my arms around myself for warmth, “told me not to open it. Remember?”

He grinned then, the expression lighting up his whole face and, suddenly, it didn’t feel anywhere near as cold. “I know you too well, Fletcher.”

“Then you’ll know I knowexactly what you’re hiding behind your back,” I told him. Honestly, Red can be so unsubtle at times.

Red grinned wider, stepping closer and cupping my cheek with one icy hand, the other holding the sprig of mistletoe high above my head. “Do you know what comes next?”

I looked up into his eyes, reaching to curl one hand around the back of his neck, pulling him closer. He closed the gap between us willingly, breath hot against my chilled skin and I gave him a grin of my own,

“I think I can work it out.”

**Author's Note:**

> As ever, feel free to chat / hit me with prompts over on Tumblr [@serenwib](http://serenwib.tumblr.com/) or Twitter [@falsteloj](https://twitter.com/falsteloj). :)


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